Q4a) Candidates should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following, as appropriate to the channels/stations and texts studied. Channel research - Do some research into Sky and E4 as a fairly new branch of Channel 4 and give me a summary of their brand image. Include channel logos and E4 adverts, links (and now on channel xxx) as well as a summary of programmes on schedule.Use some of the following key terms in your analysis.
GIVE EXAMPLES FROM THE PROGRAMMES
State the two comedies that you have studied
What channels are they on and times were they broadcast, any repeats?
How do these channels target their audience?
Discuss the nights and times these are on and what it means as a viewer, also after the watershed?
What programmes are on before and after? (hammocking or will they be inheriting an audience)
Can the programmes be downloaded?
What are the target audiences for these shows? How do you know give examples.
What are the main differences between the audiences for Inbetweeners and Modern Family?
What are the main differences between E4 and Sky channels that broadcast Modern Family?
Compare both websites and programmes on their schedules to see who and how they target their audiences
Institutional contexts: • The media channels‘/stations’ brand identities • The media channels’/stations’ethos and histories (only relevant if they affect programmes) • Regulatory (eg Public Service Broadcasting) requirements • The media channels’/stations’ target audiences. Institutional contexts need only be discussed insofar as they illuminate the institutions’ choice of texts; they should not be studied independently of the texts. Contexts of transmission: • Targeting audiences • Placement between texts • Scheduling (eg stripping schedules) • Competition between institutions • Repeating texts on related channels/stations • Releasing in different formats • Offering texts on demand. Candidates will not be expected to produce generalised essays about scheduling, but explanations of how and why the institutions have transmitted the texts they are studying in specific time slots.
Key Terms: Brand image - what we think and feel about a brand: if the brand is a television or radio channel, it's what we expect from that particular channel Channel Idents - the ways a television channel help us recognise what channel it is; these might be logos, short films or animations Demographics - measuring audiences by gender, age, class, ethnicity and region
Q4b) Example of exam question Discuss in detail how at least one comedy programme offers audience pleasures. This is what the exam board wants you to discuss. Candidates should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following: • Mass and niche audiences • How a text addresses its audiences • The pleasures a text offers its audiences. Candidates should be able to identify texts aimed at the mass audiences and those aimed at niche audiences. They should be able to analyse how specific texts address their audiences, for example: • The points of recognition or identification offered • Addressing the audiences’ lifestyles, concerns and aspirations • Addressing audiences as passive consumers or active contributors • Whether the audience is placed in position of power (eg positioned as omniscient). They should be able to discuss the pleasures of the texts for different audiences. They should be able to give textual examples from a minimum of two texts within a genre.
Practice question: Pick two tv comedies you have studied.
Discuss why they were scheduled on the channels that chose them and on the days and times they were transmitted.
Q4a) Candidates should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following, as appropriate to the channels/stations and texts studied.
Channel research - Do some research into Sky and E4 as a fairly new branch of Channel 4 and give me a summary of their brand image. Include channel logos and E4 adverts, links (and now on channel xxx) as well as a summary of programmes on schedule.Use some of the following key terms in your analysis.
GIVE EXAMPLES FROM THE PROGRAMMES
Institutional contexts:
• The media channels‘/stations’ brand identities
• The media channels’/stations’ethos and histories (only relevant if they affect programmes)
• Regulatory (eg Public Service Broadcasting) requirements
• The media channels’/stations’ target audiences.
Institutional contexts need only be discussed insofar as they illuminate the institutions’ choice of texts;
they should not be studied independently of the texts.
Contexts of transmission:
• Targeting audiences
• Placement between texts
• Scheduling (eg stripping schedules)
• Competition between institutions
• Repeating texts on related channels/stations
• Releasing in different formats
• Offering texts on demand.
Candidates will not be expected to produce generalised essays about scheduling, but explanations of
how and why the institutions have transmitted the texts they are studying in specific time slots.
Key Terms:
Brand image - what we think and feel about a brand: if the brand is a television or radio channel, it's what we expect from that particular channel
Channel Idents - the ways a television channel help us recognise what channel it is; these might be logos, short films or animations
Demographics - measuring audiences by gender, age, class, ethnicity and region
Q4b)
Example of exam question Discuss in detail how at least one comedy programme offers audience pleasures. This is what the exam board wants you to discuss. Candidates should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following:
• Mass and niche audiences
• How a text addresses its audiences
• The pleasures a text offers its audiences.
Candidates should be able to identify texts aimed at the mass audiences and those aimed at niche
audiences.
They should be able to analyse how specific texts address their audiences, for example:
• The points of recognition or identification offered
• Addressing the audiences’ lifestyles, concerns and aspirations
• Addressing audiences as passive consumers or active contributors
• Whether the audience is placed in position of power (eg positioned as omniscient).
They should be able to discuss the pleasures of the texts for different audiences.
They should be able to give textual examples from a minimum of two texts within a genre.
Practice question: Pick two tv comedies you have studied.
Discuss why they were scheduled on the channels that chose them and on the days and times they were transmitted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Family
http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/outnumbered/episodes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fq31t
http://www.e4.com/inbetweeners/
http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/inbetweeners/episodes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inbetweeners
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outnumbered